How far can $50 a week go – cheap veggies

I told you about my $50 weekly food budget and I thought I'd share with you how I've been achieving it. As I mentioned, I shop around between my local independent green grocers, Aldi and Coles supermarket. Whilst I find some good specials in Coles and Aldi, I almost always find the green grocers to be the best bet for cheap veggies.

My other reason for liking the greengrocer as well as it being cheap, is that almost everything is from local farms – and it's pretty much all seasonal, rather than expensive imported produce.

I eat a lot of veg and use it to bulk out all of my meals. I pick veggies roughly based on their nutrient density – I'm going to buy kale and spinach over iceberg lettuce.

So, here's what I selected the other day at my greengrocers….

Total Veg Spend $14.34

I compared the cost to what I would have paid in my local Coles supermarket (see below)

Buying the exact same produce would have cost over double in the supermarket – $31.07, leaving less than $20 for meat for the week!

What did I do with the produce?

I made a huge batch of butternut squash and carrot soup (I had a few carrots left over from my previous shot)

I used the cauliflower to make an experimental new pizza base

I made a greens & beef stir fry with the silverbeet, kale, sprouts and broccoli

It's cheap – but is it organic?

Unfortunately it's not all organic. Of course I'd love to eat everything organic, but on a tight budget it's just not feasible. However – one good trick I've found, is that not may people seem to buy organic where I live. This means the organic produce is quite often reduced to less than the conventional produce, as it approaches it's use by date. So keep a look out.

I'd love to hear your tips for eating well on a budget – how do you do it? Share in the comments below!